M-Sport unsure if Loeb will rejoin Rally Portugal after shock retirement
M-Sport has rated the chances of Sebastien Loeb rejoining Rally Portugal as 50:50 after an uncharacteristic driver error forced him to retire from Friday’s action.
The nine-time world champion clouted a wall on Stage 5 while leading the rally on his return to the World Rally Championship after winning the Monte Carlo season opener in January.
The impact caused significant damage to the right rear suspension of the Ford Puma.
Loeb apologised to the team for the rare error but the Ford squad is now in a race against time to repair the car to allow a return on Saturday.
M-Sport team principal Richard Millener confirmed to Autosport that repairs to the team's other cars would take priority before Loeb’s Puma is fixed.
Craig Breen damaged the right corner of his Puma in the afternoon stages, while Pierre-Louis Loubet also endured a wild moment on Stage 8.
“It is a shame really, we had a great opportunity at lunch time which looked like it was going to be another fantastic battle for the weekend, and you kind of expect that Loeb will be there or thereabouts,” said Millener.
“He made a mistake that I don’t think any of us expected to see. It is what it is, you cannot win them all. It doesn’t always go the fairytale way. He made a mistake and he’s apologised for that.
Sébastien Loeb, Isabelle Galmiche, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1, crash
Photo by: Sébastien Loeb
“We’d like to repair it [the car] and get going but just looking at the damage to the other cars through the course of the day, those guys [the mechanics] have got a hell of a lot to do.
“We will have to do one at a time and it will be fairly late starting. We will see where we are at.”
Despite suffering two punctures, Gus Greensmith leads M-Sport’s charge after ending Friday sitting fifth, a minute adrift of rally leader Elfyn Evans.
Related video
Ogier in disbelief over puncture exit from Rally Portugal
WRC Portugal: Evans extends lead over Rovanpera, Ogier and Loeb hit trouble again
De Vries cleared of wrongdoing in dispute over €250K loan
Nyck de Vries has been cleared of any wrongdoing in an Amsterdam court over a claim launched against him by real estate magnate Jeroen Schothorst relating to a €250,000 loan.
Horner admits Red Bull’s real RB19 will be ‘somewhat different’
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says the real RB19 that will appear in Formula 1 testing in Bahrain later this month will be ‘somewhat different'.
Horner hints at closer links between Mercedes and Williams F1 teams
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has hinted that there could be a closer relationship between the Mercedes and Williams Formula 1 teams in the wake of James Vowles’s move.
Ford remains committed to WRC amid F1 return
Ford has stated that it remains committed to its programme in the World Rally Championship following confirmation of its return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier from 2026.
Why Monte Carlo success could spark another past master’s WRC revival
Some 39 years on from his Monte Carlo Rally debut, World Rally Championship legend Francois Delecour continues to pick up silverware. Proving that age is purely a number, the 60-year-old's desire to compete against the WRC’s latest young talents could be the start of a new chapter in the Frenchman’s storied career
How fired-up Ogier became the WRC's ultimate Monte master
He may only be contesting a part-time campaign in the World Rally Championship these days, but Sebastien Ogier underlined that he's lost none of his speed in the 2023 season opener. Storming to yet another victory on the Monte Carlo Rally, the eight-time world champion rewrote the history books again as Toyota served notice of its intentions with a crushing 1-2
How Lancia pulled off its famous Monte Carlo giantkilling
Audi should have been invincible in the snowy conditions that typically greeted the World Rally Championship paddock in Monte Carlo. But unexpectedly warm weather for the 1983 season opener, combined with some left-field thinking from the Lancia crew turned the tables. Forty years on, team boss Cesare Fiorio reflects on a smash and grab
Why M-Sport has pinned all its efforts on a WRC reunion
M-Sport had a disastrous 2022 with its Rally1 Ford Pumas following Sebastien Loeb’s first-time-out win on the Monte. But now things are looking up with 2019 world champion Ott Tanak leading its attack, and the Cumbrian operation has optimism that it can challenge for a first title since Sebastien Ogier's departure at the end of 2018
The contenders seeking to take Rovanpera's WRC crown
As Kalle Rovanpera begins his World Rally Championship title defence in Monte Carlo, the Finn knows he has a target on his back. But who is best placed to knock the Toyota ace off his perch?
Why Rovanpera is anticipating a fight to defend his WRC title
Question: what could be harder than becoming the youngest-ever World Rally champion? Answer: becoming the youngest-ever two-time World Rally champion. That's quite the challenge facing Toyota's Kalle Rovanpera in 2022, particularly against rejuvenated opposition in the second year of the WRC's hybrid regulations
From F1 to WRC: Why Hyundai's new boss could be an inspired signing
OPINION: New Hyundai WRC team boss Cyril Abiteboul admits he’s got a lot to learn as he leads the marque's efforts to dethrone Toyota. But could his Formula 1 experience and evident strengths mean he turns out to be an inspired choice?
The ultimate rally car project the WRC is glad COVID killed
Toyota was unstoppable in the 2021 World Rally Championship, with an excellent 75% strike rate from 12 rallies. But in a scary proposition for its rivals, the Japanese marque had built a car for the final year of the previous regulations set which it believes was much faster and could feasibly have crushed the opposition completely. Here the story of its mothballed world-beater
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.